Atomizers mountable on flasklike containers



Dec. 21, 1965 K. ZIMMERMANN ATOMIZERS MOUNTABLE ON FLASKLIKE CONTAINERS Filed April 12, 1963 INVENTOR Kurf Zimmermann ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,224,648 ATOMIZERS MUUNTABLE 0N FLASKLIKE CDNTAENERS Kurt Zimmermann, Basel, Switzerland, assignor of onethird to Rudolf Gfeller and one-third to Herbert Warren Gloor, both of Basel, Switzerland Filed Apr. 12, 1963, Ser. No. 272,744 Claims priority, application Switzerland, Apr. 24, 1962, 4,899/62 3 Claims. (Cl. 222193) The present invention relates to atomizers mountable on bottles and the like, preferably on flexible flasklike containers, and comprising a hollow head member provided with a mounting part corresponding to the neck portion of the container,

Atomizers of this type known so far comprise a simple riser tube connected to said head member in airtight manner and extending downwardly into vicinity of the container bottom. In these known atomizers, a portion of the container contents is displaced from below into the riser tube and sprayed through the nozzle to the outside owing to the momentary excess pressure arising in the dead space of the container, when the flexible container wall is suddenly compressed. The condition is, of course, that the intake of the riser tube is positioned in the substance, a liquid or a powder, to be atomized. To such end it again is necessary, however, that the container and the atomizer nozzle are upwardly directed. Very often, however, it would be desirable to dust or powder a plant, for example, from above, i.e. with the nozzle directed downwardly, which however, is impossible with known atomizers of the type referred to. A further disadvantage of these known atomizers is present in particular when the substance to be atomized is a powder of which a portion remains in the riser tube even after the sudden compression of the container and often acts in an obstructing sense.

All these disadvantages are eliminated in the atomizer forming the subject matter of the present invention in that said head member is connected with its mounting part, if necessary in a tight manner, to the upper end of a multiple rise tube of which the tube elements are of different lengths for the purpose of staggering their lower ends, the length of the shortest tube element being a fraction of the length of the longest tube element, which latter extends down into vicinity of the container bottom.

Two embodiments of the invention are shown, by way of example, in the drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical section through a flexible flasklike container on to which is mounted an atomizer according to the first example,

FIG. 2 is a vertical section through the atomizer ot the second example,

FIG. 3 is a cross-section on the line IlIIII of FIG. 2, and

FIG. 4 shows a developed portion of the atomizer according to FIG. 2.

In FIG. 1, a designates a flexible bottlelike container made of a thermoplastic substance such as polyethylene, and on to the neck portion of which is mounted an atomizer. The latter comprises a hollow head member b that is formed as atomizer and comprises in turn a mounting part b that corresponds to the neck portion of container a. To said part b is sealingly connected a multiple riser tube formed by a tube bundle and of which the various tubular elements c 0 c c are of different lengths for the purpose of stepwise arranging or staggering their lower ends. The shortest tubular element 0 is of a length amounting to a fraction only of that of the longest tubular element o which extends down into vicinity of the container bottom.

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The container a with such atomizer is filled, prior to first use, up to a level slightly below the inlet opening of the shortest tubular element 0 with the substance to be sprayed, which may be powdery or liquid. The superjacent dead space contains air. When suddenly squeezing together the flexible wall of container (1, there arises in the latter a momentary excess pressure with the result that a portion of the container contents is displaced through the tubular elements of which the inlet openings are immersed into the substanceto be atomized. At the same time, air is being displaced through the tubular element c of which the end portion projects freely into the dead container space, and this displaced air flows through the nozzle. Thereby a suction is produced in the hollow space of head member b so that substance to be sprayed is sucked through the tubular elements of which the end portions are immersed. In the hollow space of head member [2 air and spraying substance are turbulently mixed. The mixture thus produced is puffed through the nozzle into the atmosphere with each sudden pressure on the flexible wall of container (1.

The atomizer according to FIGS. 2 and 3 also comprises a nozzle head b which is sealingly connected to the upper end of. a multiple riser tube d that consists of plastics and includes tubular elements of various lengths. In FIG. 4 is shown a development of this multiple riser tube. In practice, a bandlike structure is produced in an extrusion process known in the plastics industry, which structure comprises a plurality of longitudinally extending co herent tubular elements. From said structure is severed and rolled up the portion shown in FIG. 4 in skew section to produce the multiple riser tube a.

The mode of operation of the atomizer provided with this multiple riser tube, is fundamentally the same as has been explained above with reference to FIG. 1.

The atomizers described above also could be applied to rigid containers made, for example, of metal sheet or glass, to which, however, a special exterior air compressor would have to be associated, for example in the form of a rubber ball connected to the upper container portion and actuable by sudden squeezing.

What I claim is:

1. An atomizer for dispensing a powder or liquid mountable on a flasklike container comprising a hollow head member forming an atomizing nozzle, said head member having a mounting part cooperating with the container neck portion, and a multiple riser tube connected at its upper end to said head member comprising a plurality of tubular elements of different lengths, one of said tubes being relatively short so that its lower end is above the normal level of the powder or liquid in the container, the remaining tubes having different lengths and being staggered in stepwise formation with the longest extending into the vicinity of the container bottom.

2. An atomizer as set out in claim 1 in which said multiple riser tube comprises a tube bundle including said plurality of tubular elements of different lengths.

3. An atomizer as set out in claim 1 in which said multiple riser tube comprises a rolled-up section of a bandlike plastics structure comprising a plurality of longitudinal coextensive tubular elements.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,981,444 4/1961 Root 22221l X FOREIGN PATENTS 559,693 5/19257 Italy.

95,585 7/ 1922 Switzerland.

LOUIS I. DEMBO, Primary Examiner. 

1. AN ATOMIZER FOR DISPENSING A POWDER OR LIQUID MOUNTABLE ON A FLASKLIKE CONTAINER COMPRISING A HOLLOW HEAD MEMBER FORMING AN ATOMIZING NOZZLE, SAID HEAD MEMBER HAVING A MOUNTING PART COOPERATING WITH THE CONTAINER UPPER END TO SAID HEAD MEMBER COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF TUBULAR ELEMENTS OF DIFFERENT LENGTHS, ONE OF SAID TUBES BEING RELATIVELY SHORT SO THAT ITS LOWER END IS ABOVE THE NORMAL LEVEL OF THE POWDER OR LIQUID IN THE CONTAINER, THE REMAINING TUBES HAVING DIFFERENT LENGTHS AND BEING STAGGERED IN STEPWISE FORMATION WITH THE LONGEST EXTENDING INTO THE VICINITY OF THE CONTAINER BOTTOM. 